Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I just got a "feeder" goldfish from a crouded tank in petco w/ lots of dead fish.
The goldfish I got, though, is very healthy looking.

I have a pond I want to put the goldfish in, (it has about 40 square feet of surface area, & about 4 feet deep.) but if she gets sick (from being previously in a crouded tank) and dies from a contagious desease, could I add more goldfish or koi without worrying about them getting infected? If I couldn't add them right away, how long would it take for a desease to die?

Thanks,
Miriam

PS this is urgent, I don't know where to put the goldfish and she's in a bag now!

ANSWER: Hi Miriam,

Adding a fish from a tank with manny dead and/or sick fish in to the pond is a verry big risk.
A potentially healthy looking fish can have the desease and it can create an outbreak in the new pond.
So not only the newly added fish can die, even more fish or all fish in the pond.

How long you need to quarantine the fish depends on the type of desease.
Same in fact as with people.
You need to discover the type or reason why the other fish became Ill or died.

So my personal advise would be to place the fish in quarantaine for a few weeks if possible.
Ad monitor closely for starters.
Maybe check with a microscope on parasites by a dealer or professional.
Add medication in the quarantaine if required.


Good luck!

Kind regards
Raf

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Maybe I wasn't quite clear. There are no other fish in the pond currently. I'm talking about if the fish died and I want to add more to REPLACE her.

ANSWER: Hi Miriam,

Sorry, my mistake.
If the fish would die you need to know what desease it was before you can safely add new fish as some parasites / deseases could live for a long time without a host (fish).
You can however add product to the pond to have this risk reduced and desinfect the pond if needed.
So, you can take the risk and add the new fish to the pond.
Monitor closely daily for a few weeks so you can act promptly if the fish looks sick.

Kind regards,
Raf

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: OK, I added her. What product can I use to disinfect if she does die?

Also, now I can't find the fish with all the veggitation in the pond! Is there a way I can find her/get her to come over? (I already tried luring her with a piece of bread, and I tried using a stick to gently push the vegitation around to see if I could find her. No luck.)

Thanks for all the help!

Answer
Hi Miriam,

Best is to leave the fish and not to disturb the water.
The fish is now hiding because of the new enviroment and the stress.
Normally he/she will show herself again soon (few days maybe).
However normally from far away you can start to see the fish swimming.
When you get closer it will stress out and hide.

So now its all about patience and slow movements arround the pond.

Good luck!

Kind regards,
Raf